Wagering game machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines depends on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing wagering game machines and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Therefore, there is a continuing need for wagering game machine manufacturers to continuously develop new games and gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play.
Music and other sounds (i.e., soundtracks) played in wagering games help to immerse a wagering game player (“player”) into a wagering game experience and add to the excitement and fun of wagering games. Soundtracks sometimes will rise in volume levels to generate a sense of anticipation in a player. The rise in volume is sometimes referred to as a “build-up” because of the build-up of anticipation it invokes in a player. The soundtrack for a wagering game is prepared and stored on a wagering game machine or on a wagering game server well before the wagering game machine is placed on the casino floor. Audio engineers that program soundtracks for a wagering game, balance and mix the sound track in a test environment to produce optimal sound for one player seated at one wagering game machine. If the audio engineer balances the soundtrack to be too quiet or too loud for the player, then the player who plays the wagering game in the casino would become irritated or would not experience the full benefit of the game and would not feel immersed in the gaming experience. When the audio engineers prepare the soundtracks, the wagering game manufacturer stores the sound files on a wagering game machine or a server, and the wagering game manufacturer provides the wagering game machines and/or servers to a casino.
After the casino receives the wagering game machines, the wagering game manufacturer has no control over where the wagering game machines are placed in the casino. The casino will often place wagering game machines together in a group, or bank, for several reasons, such as to make a specific theme of games easier to find and also so that players playing the same game can feel a sense of camaraderie when seated next to each other. Sometimes group games, or community wagering games, for which multiple players are eligible to participate, may play a sound effect at each of the wagering game machines in a bank at the same time. The placement of the wagering game machines in a bank, however, can cause the simultaneous presentation of the same sound effect to amplify and produce an uncomfortable sound level or conflict with presentation of other sound effects.